It is no longer news that there have been two attacks within 24 hours on some trains in Nigeria. Bandits, had on Monday night, March 28, attacked a Kaduna-bound train in Northern Nigeria.
The train left Abuja, the Nigerian capital, at about 6:00 p.m. and was heading to Kaduna when it was attacked between Katari and Rijana communities.
The bandits reportedly planted explosives on the train track and immobilized it before firing gunshots at passengers as they tried to open the doors. Some passengers were reportedly kidnapped, leaving many injured and at least 8 people dead due to the unfortunate incident.
In the second attack, reports says another train heading to Abuja from Kaduna was forced to a stop as terrorists planted IEDs on the tracks.
These incidents have become a source of concern to Nigerians and many celebrities have voiced out, stating the nation is insecure and asking what a Nigerian life is worth.
WITHIN NIGERIA brings you a compilation of what some of these celebrities have to say about the current state of the nation.
1. Toyin Abraham
Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham reacted to the incident that cut the life of Dr Chinelo, a victim of the railway attack on Monday night, short.
Chinelo, after she was shot, had taken to the microblogging platform Twitter to solicit prayer, but she got trolled for using the incident to chase clout.
Toyin Abraham said the death of Chinelo should serve as a lesson to clout chasers who desire to score points, accolades and likes on social media at the detriment of others who they should take seriously.
The light-skinned actress said the country is currently in a mess and she hopes the current administration will do all they can to fix it or we will get a better candidate in 2023.
2. Richard Mofe-Damijo
RMD is never shy to address situations bothering the nation and in this case, he decried the current state of insecurity in the nation.
The veteran actor, while reflecting on the recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train and the pandemonium that broke out at the MKO stadium after Nigeria lost to Ghana in the World Cup qualifier match, RMD opined that Nigerians are angry and bitter and are just looking for triggers.
RMD called on the government to act, rather than just make promises they won’t keep. He urged those in charge to apprehend the perpetrators and save the lives of Nigerians, while advising the leaders declare a state of emergency. In a lengthy post, he wrote:
”My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives, the wounded and those who will be traumatised by this incident for a long time. At this time last year I was on this same train to kaduna and we talked about how unsafe life is and the risks we were taking. We are the lucky ones.
Again a month ago I was on the Lagos /Ibadan train and it was the same spectre of death and attacks that plagued our minds. This is not to disregard the comfort and timeliness of the train ride and how desirable it is.
A few weeks later we heard reports of the same train breaking down on the tracks due to lack of Diesel. Again I was lucky that this didn’t happen to me. Point is, it could be anyone any day. On the road, at the airport, train station, no where is safe anymore. This is the extent of our brokenness.
If anything is an indication of how broken we are today, then the shameful storming of the pitch and destruction of the MKO national stadium abuja, is a clear indication. People are angry and bitter and are just looking for triggers. And boy! they are plenty.
See the initial reactions to the quite clear tweet of the young doctor who died from gunshot wounds from the train and you will see that we’ve also lost our humanity.
Nothing surprises and shocks us anymore. We’ve seen and heard it all. Ridiculousness has been enthroned by our leaders at every level.
There is an urgent need to declare a state of emergency in this country. We are heading for the precipice and it doesn’t seem like we are interested in pulling the breaks. After now it’s a free fall.
The government needs to do more than just promises to apprehend the perpetrators and truly save the lives of WE THE PEOPLE.
#Rmdsaysso.”
3. Adesua Etomi
Nollywood actress cum singer, Adesua Etomi has also lamented on the state of the nation, citing the train attacks as examples. The mother-of-one had earlier wished the doctor who lost her life during the attack, rests in peace and she went on to say Nigeria keeps breaking her heart due to the senseless killings. She tweeted:
“So many innocent lives wasted. Gone. For no just cause. Senseless. It will always be Senseless.
My heart goes out to the victims of the kaduna-abuja rail bombings.
My heart goes out to their families.
Nigeria steady breaking my heart. Steady”
4. Bigvai Jokotoye
Despite leaving Nigeria for greener pastures, Bigvai Jokotoye is obviously concerned for his fans, family and friends who are based in Nigeria.
The Nigerian-American actor called out his colleagues in the movie industry and Nigerians as whole, urging them to wake up.
He berated those campaigning for the current ruling party, ahead of the 2023 general election and went on to question his colleagues that if their relatives were killed in the recent train attack, would they have campaigned?
5. Kate Henshaw
Nollywood actress and fitness instructor, Kate Henshaw is always ready to lend her voice when the government is lacking; so it wasn’t shocking when she tweeted that the leaders should come out clean on the state of the nation.
Kate made the tweet in response to a post from the Nigerian railway corporation that train operations have been suspended temporarily due to unforeseen circumstances.
On the other hand, the actress also chided Nigerians for being insensitive and cruel to one another and then blaming the government about it.
6. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu
Media personality, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu also expressed concern with the level of insecurity in Nigeria. He opined that if Kaduna, a city close to the FCT, could be under repeated attacks, how much more states that are further away from the capital.
He tweeted saying:
“Very very troubling that Kaduna is just a heartbeat away from our capital and the terror stories are almost endless. Makes you wonder about the States further away”
7. Mercy Aigbe
Controversial Nigerian actress, Mercy Aigbe reacted to the death of oversea-bound medical doctor, Chinelo Megafu following her death from the gunshot injury sustained from the recent terror attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train.
Mercy Aigbe stated she was completely heartbroken while questioning when God will flush out the evil leaders who are not making Nigeria a better country.
The thespian further rebuked social media users for not showing compassion on Dr Chinelo, who had during the attack announced on her Twitter that she was shot and asked for prayers.
8. Falz
The current state of Nigeria has made singer, Falz da Bahd guy to cry out.
While reflecting on the recent train attack, Falz took to social media to decry the state of the nation, slamming politicians for going about with their campaign activities despite the wanton killings in the country.
He also slammed the Lagos Concession Company LCC for planning to resume toll collection at the Lekki tollgate despite being found complicit by the Lagos state Judicial panel in the October 20, 2020 EndSARS shooting. In a tweet tread, he wrote:
“This place is in absolute shambles and it’s rather insane that everyone is constantly adjusting and acting like this is a country.
No electricity, fuel scarce, no jobs, Naira all the way down, students are not in school, no public healthcare to treat ordinary man wey dey sick. You can’t travel by road because you may be killed or kidnapped. And now rail bombings have been added to the mix.
Back to back bombings on the Kaduna-Abuja rail. Numerous Nigerian lives needlessly wasted. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING has been uttered about this. What the actual fxck.
Do you know what these animals are busy doing ? Announcing that they want to be president, Organizing political rallies, announcing that they want to start collecting toll gate money.
Soldiers committed gruesome murders on innocent Nigerians on the night of October 20, 2020 The reports of the Judicial Panel set up by govt indicted the LCC. despite being complicit in these gory crimes, LCC is brave enough to announce toll collection What kind of madness?”
9. Williams Uchemba
Nollywood actor and comedian, Williams Uchemba reacted to the state of his nation in his post after Nigeria was defeated by Ghana, stopping them from proceeding to the world cup.
The filmmaker opined that Nigeria losing the 2022 World Cup slot might be a good thing, claiming maybe then, we can focus on pressing issues in the country. He wrote:
“Maybe it’s good we lost so we can channel our anger on pressing issues in the country. Almost 1000 Nigerian citizens cannot be accounted for and some people are acting like it’s a normal thing.
If it takes losing a match to get us upset and know that we are in a hell hole so be it. Some heads of state are yet to make a statement on the issue. I guess they are busy planning for 2023.”
Recall, that pandemonium broke out at the MKO stadium after Nigeria lost to Ghana.
10. Erica Nlewedim
The reality TV star who couldn’t hold back her emotions took to her official twitter page to complain about the unsatisfying state of the country. Erica said that she felt like renouncing her citizenship as a Nigerian. She tweeted that she really doesn’t want to be a Nigerian anymore because it’s frustrating.
Recall that aside from the insecurity in Nigeria, the country is also currently facing poor electricity supply, fuel scarcity and price hike, expensive food items and other commodities in the market because of poor economy.